The Duchess of Cambridge sparked a rush in the sales of swaddling blankets after she was pictured with one wrapped around baby Prince George of Cambridge as they left hospital.

Now a former nurse and birth doula has said these mothers will have happy and contented babies - if they learn how to use them.

Viv Rogan, dubbed the Baby Calmer, said: 'Since Kate was seen with a swaddling blanket more people have been buying them but now they need to know how to use them properly. It's more than just a blanket. If folded correctly it can transform a screaming baby into a calm one in three minutes.'

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He said babies can be soothed by following what he calls the 'Five S's' -
swaddling, putting them in a side-on position,
making shushing sounds, swinging them and giving them a dummy to
suck.

Dr Karp's advice in based on his belief that babies aged 0 to three months are in the 'fourth trimester' and can be best settled into the world by being in an environment similar to how they were in the womb.

His 'The Happiest Baby' advice has been widely followed in the U.S. and now Viv, from Wimbledon, is spreading the word in the UK after becoming one of a handful of credited instructors in Dr Karp's baby calming techniques.

A mother of three grown-up boys, Viv said she wishes she had known the methods sooner as it would have made her life easier when her sons were newborns.

She said: 'It is tempting to think that someone who can calm a baby easily has a special gift but it has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with understanding why restless babies cry.'

She said all of Dr Karp's advise is based on 'tried and tested methods' and 'ancient techniques' such as swaddling.

Swaddling goes back to Biblical times but has died out in recent generations in Britain as women no longer know how to due it - or fear causing hip displacement in their babies by doing them too tightly (a problem Viv said isn't relevant if you wrap the baby so their hips still have room to move).

Ancient technique: Viv shows a new mother how to correctly swaddle her baby

It's a wrap: Swaddling replicates how babies felt curled up in the womb but they mustn't be bound too tightly

She gets her clients to first practise swaddling on dolls so they can get the technique right before wrapping their baby.

She said a swaddled baby will sleep longer during the night and, if swaddled at certain periods during the day, will settle easier and some very restless babies will latch on with more ease if swaddled, though skin-to-skin feeding is still the ideal.

She explained that the method works by replicating how the babies were in the womb when they were comfortably curled up.

In the current heatwave, she said mothers needn't have their babies swaddled for long periods. To avoid them overheating, she said they should be swaddled without any clothes but just wearing a nappy.

Parents should always be sure to check the baby is not too hot.

Does she know how to use it? The Duchess of Cambridge had a swaddling shawl around baby Prince George of Cambridge when she left hospital

She said the many parents she has advised have seen huge improvements in their baby's temperament after being swaddled.

She said: 'It has become a party trick for one of my client's husbands. He went to a friend's Christening where all the babies were crying and upset and he calmed them by swaddling each one.'

But Viv says if put down to sleep babies must always be put on their backs and the swaddled must be secure.Swaddling should be discontinued when the baby is able to turn over in its cot.

Viv added that the shushing noises are also key to a happy baby.

She said: 'Babies are not used to complete peace and quiet. They have been in the womb where they could hear shushing noises and the sounds of their mother's body.'

Parents can replicate this by playing 'white noise' to get their baby to sleep.

Vivienne Rogan, Baby Calmer is one of only a few certified HB educators in The UK. For more information visit: www.thebabycalmer.co.uk